Chapter 22

To be perfectly honest, Tanya was unsure if she had ever been so bored in her multiple lives. Technically she was allowed to leave the bed, but due to security concerns an actual walk outside the boundary of her walls was impossible. She called bullshit on that as she felt more than prepared enough to protect her life as she had for decades, but Nedzu probably had his reasons for keeping her locked up in this not-quite-prison-cell.

The anxiety of sitting around all day, uselessly twiddling her thumbs forced her to pace restlessly, performing whatever meagre exercises the doctors allowed her. Meanwhile she tried to come up with as many contingency plans as her non-magically enhanced brain allowed, in case the Commission somehow got wind of her recent change of heart which was bound to happen sooner or later. Most of them involved the two hard drives hidden underneath the floorboards of her apartment and in the basement of her previous flat.

Tanya knew that most of her dirty info was easily combatable in court, because she lacked any witnesses who could testify the authenticity of her documents, but the pressure that her blackmail was going to enact on the HPSC would definitively drive them to act rashly. Especially Administrator M who was going to try to neutralize her rashly in a misguided attempt to save his own skin. Fat load of good that would do him, replaceable cog that he was in the government's war machine.

Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone on the nightstand. It was her co-conspirator's number.

"Hello, Mr. Principal. How are you and what can I do for you?"

Light chuckling resounded at the other end.

"Despite everything, I am feeling perfect, thank you for asking, Miss Degurechaff. The last few days have been... Well, I can't say more stressful than normal, because since the beginning of this school year such troubles have become an almost everyday occurrence, but it surely was not easy."

She dared not to ask. If he wanted to tell her then he would. Interrupting one's superior while they were about to deliver orders tended to be unwise.

"I imagine that we will have to resolve that particular issue collectively. Anyways, how are you holding up, Miss Degurechaff? The peace and quiet is getting rather dull, I trust?"

Damn, this was apparently serious if he was buttering her up in such a way; reminding her that the keys to her freedom were dangling in his furry paws.

"I am managing. It's been a while since I took a vacation is all." she replied dryly.

"Well, good news! I believe you should be released right about now! Give it the obligatory fifteen minutes until the nurses have checked everything over, but then you should be good to go. Furthermore, I believe there is a wonderful surprise waiting for you back at school. Cementoss will pick you up at the foyer."

A surprise? Why was he so awfully vague about this? She was getting bad vibes from his painfully cheery tone.

"I am afraid I don't follow, Mr. Principal. Could you please clarify?"

"Ah, don't worry! You will find out when you see it! 'Till then, toodles!"

'Oh no. Could this be the end?'

Numbly she prepared herself in the small bathroom mirror and silently signed her discharge papers soon after when the nurse came knocking. Her mind was alert, but at the same time everything appeared dampened by a slight haze. Tanya was not a slave anymore, yet her treasured freedom was still as unreachable to her as the stars. She was a woman caught between the lines, tangled in webs that she could easily cut, only to be faced with the yawning abyss below her feet.

Throughout her lives she had experienced many forms of treachery, but this betrayal at Nedzu's hands stung in a special way. Probably because she had been idiotic enough to believe in him, to actually trust that he would help a troublesome soul like her. Nonetheless, it was shocking.

So she remained quiet as she was led to the hospital entrance where the Cement Hero was already waiting for her. Despite his friendly gestures she knew full well that she was being carted to her execution. Maybe the blocky, grey hero was unaware of her destination or maybe he didn't care. Either way she could not find in herself the energy to hate him.

On and on she mulled over the question in her mind.

Was he really getting rid of her? Disposing of the unpleasant traitor and associate in multiple murder cases to spare himself the hassle? But she had been complicit so far! She was dependent on him! He was the only one who knew about Himiko's current whereabouts. Why would he kick her, his most useful pawn, out of the game before she even had the chance to move!? It was plain madness.

Their car drove through the security check on campus unhindered; demonstrating undeniably that this whole coup was planned in advance. Finally Cementoss pulled up on a building Tanya had never seen before. Yep, there was no denying that things were going south.

Still, she would not go down without a fight.

Logically, she should break out of the trap now before the jaws fully snapped shut, but who could say which crazy defences the wretched rodent had put in place? Snipers on the rooftops, a remote controlled drone full of explosives or simply Eraserhead hiding in a place from where he could deactivate her quirk midflight to send her plummeting to her death!

Hopefully he would confront her himself one last time. Maybe she could prove her worth to him once again, demonstrate why he should keep her around. An intelligent man like him certainly wouldn't squander her potential, right?

Right?

"Go right in, Argent. This is your day."

Geez, he couldn't have made it more obvious if he tried! Weren't these normal heroes supposed to be trained to never kill, let alone deliver another person to the slaughter like cattle? Nedzu's influence could apparently corrupt everyone with enough time.

Steeling her nerves, her quirk kicked into overdrive as she opened the unassuming front door.

Immediately there was an explosion and blinding light dispelled the interior darkness!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

...

Tanya stood behind her barrier, a silver blade formed around each hand as she blinked owlishly at the confetti that drifted slowly to the ground. On the other side of her barrier, her students blinked equally owlishly back, Ashido and Kirishima standing frozen with blown party poppers in their hands.

"Er, happy birthday, Ms. Degurechaff..." Mina Ashido said awkwardly as the rest of the class stumbled through their own utterances of the age old platitude.

Absentmindedly she remembered that today was indeed her birthday.

Huh. Time flew.

Tanya wanted to say much to that as she deactivated her quirk, from starting a lecture about how heroes are often high strung and thus rarely appreciated surprises, to a reminder that party poppers weren't supposed to be on campus and that they would now have to clean up their mess, less the janitor have more work needlessly thrust upon him.

More than anything she wanted to curse that damn, blasted animal undoubtedly slurping tea in his office and howling with laughter at the needless worry he caused her.

However, instead of all of that she just asked:

"How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Erm, b-because I told them." Midoriya sheepishly answered as he raised a hand, drawing her eyes to his hunched form. "Hawks alluded to as much, anyway, four years ago when he was stopped by some fans. He said he was in a hurry to celebrate one of his kohai's birthdays, and um, a lot of people on the forums recently speculated that he was referring to you, considering you both work directly under the HPSC and have been seen together both professionally and casually on multiple occasions."

Tanya pursed her lips, but eventually replied: "I thought I told you to start standing up straight and to speak with confidence, Midoriya. If you're going to be a hero, people need to feel that you have the situation under control so as to assuage fears. Besides, that was excellent logical deduction and good intel-gathering you just displayed, a skill that will be useful in your career."

She was being petty, but her heart was still racing! Nedzu would pay for this embarrassing misdirection!

Yet she also couldn't help but smile as the absurdity of the situation set in. A birthday party! For her! Such sentimental wastefulness… Getting born was nothing special, at least after the second time. That her students would nonetheless go through all that effort for someone as insignificant as her was – to be perfectly honest – kind of heart-warming.

Collecting her thoughts she directed an approving nod at the gathered crowd, idly noticing the absence of Iida.

"Yes, you guessed correctly. Today is indeed my birthday and although I was frankly expecting nothing, every one of you has gone above and beyond what is expected of students. I am honoured that you would consider me worth the effort."

"Of course we had to!" cheered that over-excitable Ashido girl again.

"Yeah we forgot to visit Mr. Aizawa at the hospital and we thought that we didn't want to miss this opportunity too, you know?" Sero laughed self-consciously.

"It's also kind of a nice housewarming party for this awesome place!" added the floating pile of clothes that was Hagakure.

That reminded her...

"Out of curiosity, where exactly are we then? I do not recognize this building."

"The dorms!"

How enlighteningly specific.

Her blank expression must have been obvious, because Uraraka hesitantly asked: "Nobody told you?"

The fact that a literal child had been informed instead of her stung quite a bit.

"Yes." she replied blandly, successfully masking her annoyance.

"Oh, these are our dorms, mademoiselle! Aren't they magnifique?"

If one could call the sturdy looking, white walls and stainless steel security doors such a thing, then sure. While an interior decorator had been undeniably absent in the construction process, the whole thing appeared rather defensible at first glance. Always a plus in an environment filled with rowdy teenagers.

"Certainly. Is this some new safety measure Nedzu cooked up? Keeping the students under surveillance on campus?"

"There is surveillance?" squeaked Mineta from somewhere at the back of the crowd.

"I believe so. After the repeated attacks on our class we considered it prudent to accept the principal's offer for protection. Most do not wish to put their families at risk and the rest accepted out of solidarity." explained Momo Yaoyorozu in a dignified and concise manner.

Wonderful. Now she was probably going to be responsible for them twenty-four seven.

"And your internships all went well, I presume?" Tanya asked, pointedly staring at Midoriya's bandages.

"Uhhh... Ms. Argent... You see-"

"Shut the hell up, Deku! The candles aren't gonna blow themselves out! I didn't bake this shitty cake so you could fucking talk the entire day!"

"Language!" thundered the heroine, glaring at Bakugou who had interrupted them so rudely.

Slight snickering spread among the students, loosening the tense atmosphere.

With that, she moved past a pair of students and went towards the table in the middle of the room, appreciating the adorable display of amateurish flower bouquets and home-made baked goods prepared for her. It made her heart ache the tiniest bit.

"And what might this be? A chocolate cake?"

"Y-yes, Sensei!" Ochaco stuttered. "Um, red wine chocolate cake to be exact!" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "W-well, Rikido gave me the recipe... And Yaomomo brought the wine, hehe."

Another smile tugged at the teacher's lips. Her students were feeling especially risky today. Alcohol on school grounds could be risking an expulsion. Just for a cake? How ridiculous.

"Good. I hope you won't mind if I indulge in two slices today. I am famished for something other than standard hospital food. You will have to divide the rest amongst yourself equally."

Wound up shouts of approval and hunger broke out as Tanya cleanly split the baked goods into the appropriate number of servings with her energy fields to be handed out at class 1-A that was busy regaling the events of the past week to one another.

"Regardless," she spoke over the mild chaos "while I appreciate the gesture, this is still school property. Ashido, Kirishima, make sure you clean up that confetti afterwards."

"Yes, Miss Argent!"

~[#҈#]~

Listening in to the conversations of her students and basking in the carefree mood, Tanya found herself enjoying the presence of other people quite a bit. She rationalized it as the innate desire of humans for companionship, but deep down she was fully aware that seeing all the naive innocence of her students reminded her of happier times as well, ones untainted by war or crime. Nostalgia was truly a powerful drug.

If only Himiko was here to share this moment with her then it could have been even better...

Bzzzt-bzzt!

Angry buzzing from her phone disrupted her daydreams. Shaking her head, Tanya silently chastised herself for drifting off like that. As she checked her screen she was greeted by a new message from Nedzu.

Joy…

A small part of her wanted to throw the damn thing through the nearest window as petty payback for getting tricked by his vague orders earlier, yet her calm and collected nature won out.

There was no reason to act irrational. As long as she could not confirm that the hyper-intelligent animal had actually been toying with her previously, holding such a grudge was entirely unfounded. Even if it was his fault, she needed to suck it up and accept the power play of her boss lest she alienate her greatest ally.

Excusing herself after reminding the children to behave responsibly, Tanya followed the red arrow on her navigation app to wherever 'Storage 89-20' was. The route took her through multiple winding corridors down to the basement of the side wing. Countless nondescript doors lined the walls, giving the whole dimly lit area a surreal feeling like these corridors could stretch on forever. At some point she realized that this underground labyrinth had to be significantly bigger than any building above ground, likely connecting the entire campus.

Finally though, she arrived at the properly designated location.

What should she do?

That was until Tanya sensed someone speedily approaching her from behind, causing her to spin around in preparation only to be tackled to the floor by a familiar blonde bundle of manic energy.

"I missed you!" squealed Himiko as she buried her face in her chest.

Tanya wanted to laugh, but the air was literally being squeezed out of her lungs, so she had to contend herself with affectionately rubbing her friend's back.

"Can't... breathe..." she managed to rasp out which thankfully lessened the crushing force on her ribcage slightly.

"I missed you so much! This Nedzu guy took me with him and suddenly I'm in a basement and he tells me you are coming and..."

Her partner began to rhythmically press her fingers into her skin, using Morse code to transcribe the simple words: "WATCHED – FLEE?"

Of course they had often trained in nonverbal communication, both officially for the HPSC and for their own benefit, but utilizing skin contact for complex silent massages was a novel system. Tanya was proud of how crafty her kohai had become on her own. Himiko was no genius, but she kept her cunning as sharp as her blade collection.

Haltingly she typed back: "NOT YET – TRUST FOR NOW"

Meanwhile, out loud she said: "You are safe here. They wanted to get rid of you, but the HPSC won't find you here. The principal is an odd individual, but I believe he has a good heart. He will help us, if only to bring the Commission down. As long as I am with you he won't dare to lay a finger on you."

Himiko pulled back from her hug to stare her intensely into the eyes, searching for her true thoughts on the matter. Tanya just smiled comfortingly.

"Honestly, as warm as your embrace is, Himiko, this hallway is not a very stimulating place to hold a conversation. Why don't you show me your room, hmm?"

Instantly, an invisible flip switched in the vampiric girl's mind and she started to drag her off towards the grey door on their left.

"Come Senpai! I made something! For your birthday!"

Everybody in the world except herself seemed to have remembered this blasted day!

Inside, though spartanly equipped in the way of actual furniture, the room already had acquired that certain Himiko touch. A framed portrait of them both together hung above her bed and deceptively childish paintings covered most surfaces at eye height. Flowers, stars, animals, blood droplets and Tanya's face were lovingly depicted in random patterns. Multiple sharp objects lay at handy positions and judging from the marks on the training dummy in the corner, her friend was taking her training more seriously than ever.

The desk was littered with knickknacks and loose papers, now pushed to the side to make space for the glossy, red cake in its centre.

"They have giant kitchens here! Like, big enough to feed an army! It's kinda hard to find what you need, but I managed! Senpai, look! I baked you a cake all on my own! Isn't it pretty?"

Hopefully she was not expected to eat the whole thing or she might burst. Well, before that she would probably die of sugar overdose if this conformed to Himiko's usual preference for cooking.

"Yes, it looks very beautiful. What flavour is it?"

"Red velvet!" the younger girl exclaimed excitedly.

Tanya smirked. "Of course it is."

Himiko abashedly averted her eyes, shuffling her feet.

"Will you try it?"

"How could I not? Thank you for your gift. It was very thoughtful of you to think of me, despite your own situation."

She really meant it. Most would have picked something simple like flowers or wine as presents, but to undergo hours of effort to create something with one's hands held a lot more meaning. Despite the grief she brought onto her friend, she did not choose to abandon her.

The taste was buttery and rich, melting on her tongue with just enough sweetness to not be overpowering and making her yearn for more. After a week of mostly physical inactivity, gorging herself on fat and sugar was definitely not the smartest choice, but she would be damned if she made her kohai sad by ignoring the product of their affection.

"Wow, this is amazing, Himiko. Your skills are improving every day." she remarked offhandedly.

A high-pitched cry of elation and two strong arms wrapping around her waist was all the conformation she needed to know that her compliment had been received well. Honestly, her partner was a bit more touch-starved than expected, but Tanya absolutely didn't mind the feeling of the younger girl's softness protectively curling around her. In a way, every hot little breath which caused her skin to unwillingly erupt in goosebumps was a living reminder that she had chosen wisely.

They were safe.

Her life still held such joy.

Despite everything that was taken from her, she felt richer than ever.

As she savoured another bite from her second excellent cake of the day, in the embrace of the one person she was happily willing to guard with her life, Tanya was actively thankful to be alive.

~[#҈#]~

"Argent!" called out a voice to her on her way back to the dorms.

"Eraserhead." she relied neutrally, but in a polite tone, walking slower so that the older hero could catch up.

"I wanted to talk to you, but I wanted to wait until after the 'party'."

So he was watching? Impressive, if not a smidgeon creepy. His stealth must have been perfect.

"Very considerate. What in particular?"

"Two things. You know how the new lesson plan works, right?"

'Arghhhhhh! Curse this overstuffed teddy bear!"

Pursing her lips she replied:"Vaguely. I received the abridged version yesterday."

Tanya gave the man high credit for sparing her some humiliating comment like: 'Why would the principal not inform you in detail even though this is your fucking job?'

Instead he stoically explained to her the extra six hours per week added to the curriculum for self-defence and 'advanced field training' that were designed to make use of the increased free time of their students. A sensible idea in her opinion, because the less time these kids had to come up with mischief, the better. Furthermore, it would most likely increase their chances of survival dramatically.

Taught by mainly herself, but a differing rotation of other UA heroes as well, this year's 1-A and 1-B were certainly going to perform significantly better than the previous year in the final physical exams. Provided that those were not adjusted of course.

"Thank you for bringing me up to speed. I am grateful for you going over the finer details with me again."

Aizawa seemed like an alright guy and so she strived to keep their relationship distant and professional.

"No problem. The other thing is... Tenya Iida's brother was critically injured by the Hero Killer last week."

Stain, an infamous serial killer responsible for a dozen murders of small-time heroes. The Commission had deemed him a useful pest, effective at scaring the lower ranks into submission. Naturally he would have been removed by either the big heroes which would strengthen their image or by more covert means, but his confidence seemed to be growing if he dared to hunt a popular figure like Ingenium. Subsequently his days were numbered as his very existence was now threatening the stable and undefeatable image of Japan's heroes that the HPSC arduously maintained.

"My condolences. Is that why he was missing today?"

"Partially. Somehow he got it in head that it was duty to avenge his brother and-"

Tanya stopped dead in her tracks.

"Don't tell me..."

"He is alive and they are optimistic that he will make a full recovery. The question remains what we should do with him. I am technically still 1-A's homeroom teacher, which grants me full autonomy over who gets expelled or not, but from what I have seen of your work here... Argent, you are rather effective and have shown a unique perspective fitting for UA's extraordinary students, so I would like to hear your opinion on the matter before coming to a decision."

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Man, this day really was a rollercoaster of emotions, wasn't it?